A blast at an under-construction seven-storey building in east Bengaluru that injured two workers is being investigated as a possible improvised explosive device concealed inside a torch, according to police sources cited by The Indian Express. Bengaluru Police have not officially confirmed the nature of the device and are awaiting forensic examination results.
The blast occurred on October 20 at a construction site in Pulakeshinagar. Suraj Kumar, a 28-year-old painter from Gorakhpur, suffered the most serious injuries, including the loss of two fingers, severe burns and shrapnel wounds to his face, head and chest. Alauddin Barbhaij, a 53-year-old security guard from Dimapur, sustained a minor injury near his eye.
According to police sources, Barbhaij received a parcel at the ground floor of the site on the afternoon of October 20. CCTV footage reportedly showed the parcel being delivered by an unidentified person and then collected by the guard. The sources said Barbhaij called Kumar, who was working on the seventh floor, to help activate what appeared to be a torch. The guard allegedly carried it to the fifth floor, where it exploded in Kumar’s hands when he attempted to switch it on.
Abhi Kumar, Suraj’s 18-year-old brother, told The Indian Express that the workers had been at the building for only two days. He said Suraj was working on the seventh floor and that the family did not know anyone personally at the site. After the blast, workers rushed the injured painter to hospital, he said.
The police sources described the device as a torch modified with a small quantity of explosive material and a battery-powered detonator. They also said it contained ball bearings that acted as shrapnel, damaging nearby windows and injuring Kumar. The sources characterised the device as one intended to target an individual rather than as a terrorism-related device. These details have not been formally confirmed by Bengaluru Police.
The account is also being examined alongside what police sources described as contradictory versions provided by Barbhaij. Police began questioning the guard after he was discharged from Minto Eye Hospital, where he received treatment for the cut near his eye.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar said investigators were waiting for the final forensic examination to establish the nature of the device. “There is nothing to panic about at this stage. The festive season is underway, and we are very alert. We are investigating the incident and are not ruling out anything,” he said, according to the report.
Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge said material recovered from the site had been sent for forensic examination. “We are evaluating that. All materials have gone for a forensic audit,” he said.
The incident places attention on security and access controls at active construction sites, where workers, guards, deliveries and contractors may operate in partially completed buildings. The available account does not establish who sent the parcel, why the site was targeted or whether the device was deliberately intended for Kumar. Those questions remain subject to the police investigation and forensic findings.
